By Carol Lucas
News of former President Jimmy Carter’s choice to spend his final days at home under hospice care came as a shock to many, despite the fact that we knew he is 98 years of age and had become very frail. The man had battled brain cancer eight years earlier and had won, so perhaps we were lulled into thinking that he might go on forever.
Certainly we had seen him any number of times with a hammer in hand, working on a project that came under the auspices of his favorite charity, Habitat for Humanity. And this was when he was in his nineties.
Until I became aware of this man’s devotion to the cause, I never thought much about Habitat, much less the name. But take a moment and ponder the meaning: habitat for humanity, a dwelling or home for any and all humans. Is this too much to expect, that every person should have a decent place to come home to, to rest his or her head in bed at the end of the day?
Evidently our 39th President believed it is not, and he put his sweat and tears and who knows how much money into supporting that notion.
It’s easy to criticize a President, depending upon one’s party affiliation, and that has become an endless pastime for some. I’m the first to admit that I have been very overt about my disdain for No. 45; furthermore, one only has to access the Internet to see there was no lack of the same for Barack Obama or presently for Joe Biden.
Jimmy Carter was no exception to the barrage of insults from critics. But now as this ex-President enters the last weeks, maybe days of his life, perhaps we should take a look at him as a man and not a politician.
I can remember hearing about then-Gov. Carter when he made the decision to run for President, and thinking, “Who is this person? A peanut farmer from Georgia?” And I admit to some skepticism regarding the individual my party was going to nominate for President.
There is no argument that his presidency was riddled with blunders, and one historian referred to Carter as “the John Quincy Adams of the 20th century – he had good ideas but lacked the political skills to get Congress to enact upon them.”
The relationship, bad blood if you will, between Carter and fellow Democrat Tip O’Neill was notorious. After all, Carter was an outsider, and O’Neill represented the political establishment. And yet another historian has cast James Earl Carter in this way: “no President has had a more successful post-presidency.”
As I was doing my research, I came upon this:
This is Jimmy.
Jimmy is 95 years old.
Jimmy had brain cancer at 90.
Jimmy broke a hip at 94.
Jimmy fell at home on a Sunday, requiring 15 stitches
and was back to “work” on Monday.
Jimmy is a Badass!
The above was accompanied by a picture of the president, face bruised, with a drill in his hand, working on a house.
It’s worth noting some additional information to make my point about President Carter. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to internal conflicts.” He established the Carter Center for the advancement of human rights. He also published 40 books.
And under the heading of irony, there is this: the man who is very religious, (might I editorialize here and say he truly walked the walk all of his life), did not drink. Yet he took on many governmental authorized monopolies which included deregulating the beer industry, making it possible for craft breweries to exist today.
Yes, Jimmy admitted to “lusting in his heart,” but I will refrain from drawing any comparisons.
As I write this, President Carter is still alive, having chosen to forego any more medical treatment. I can only wish that his passing is serene and painless when his time comes. And I would add, “God speed, Mr. President. You have provided a model for humility, integrity and empathy, character traits sorely missing in today’s political quagmire. When you stand before St. Peter, you will surely be judged by what you did for humanity, and not for a title you held.”
And for all of us who also hope to enter those same gates, perhaps it would be appropriate to take a page from the President’s book, and instead of clamoring endlessly about “wokeness,” strive to develop a bit of empathy for those less fortunate. I can tell you from my time volunteering, that there is no better feel-good experience.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
